Emigration
Embarkation lists
Passenger lists for ships to Canterbury which carried assisted immigrants organised by the Canterbury Provincial Government from 1856-1870, and the Central Government from 1870-1874.
Ship life
- Canterbury pilgrims
Sung by the first colonists at the special service held in St Paul’s Cathedral, London, prior to embarking for Port Lyttelton, New Zealand, A.D. 1850. - Passengers’ contract ticket issued to Alfred and Eliza Rump to sail on the Merope, 1870
- Regulations to be observed on board emigrant ships of the Provincial government of Canterbury, New Zealand.
Diaries
- Joseph Munnings Diary, May 1862 to May 1864
Joseph Munnings (1841-1923) worked as a farm labourer, carter, and storekeeper. Referring to his diaries as logbooks, he wrote about the weather, his work, leisure time and social activities. The diaries run from 1862-1866. The diary runs from 8 May 1862 to 30 May 1864.- Log book of the ship Mirage : a shipboard diary kept by C.E.D. Goff, 1864
- The diary includes biographical information, a passenger list and information about the crew.
- Shipboard diary of Henry Smith, photographs and papers
- A handwritten diary January 17-February 28 1885 by Henry Smith, which documents the voyage of the Rimutaka to New Zealand. The collection includes a letter of reference dated 20 December 1884, an invoice for rates on land at View Hill, and a few family photographs.
- W.C Walker: Log on board the S.S. Sometsetshire, 1869
- Shipboard diary of W. C. Walker; from Plymouth to Melbourne, 1 July to 30 August 1869.
- Henry Bottle: Shipboard diary and six letters, 1879-1884
- The diary, written by Henry Bottle, records the voyage of the Himalaya from London to Lyttelton, and starts on January 11, 1879, finishing on April 14, 200 miles short of the port of Lyttelton. One letter, undated, is written on part of the diary. The letters recount early experiences in Waimate and Oamaru.
- Journal of the ship Canterbury, 1851 by Edward Eade
- Shipboard journal of Edward Eade, the Canterbury Association chaplain, who voyaged to Lyttelton from Gravesend on the ship Canterbury. The journey lasted four months, from 21 June to 20 Oct. 1851. Includes some very detailed entries and accounts of the ship’s school. The diary ends as land is sighted.
- Charles Joseph Bridge: Diary written on board the Randolph, at Opawa and at Southbridge, 1850-1865
- Diary of Charles Joseph Bridge, covering his outward voyage to Lyttelton on the Randolph and early life in Canterbury at the Homebrook run, near Lake Ellesmere, from 1850-1865. The diary includes various newspaper clippings and notes on family.
- John Richardson: shipboard diary 1864, Edinburgh to Wellington
- An unfinished diary by John Richardson (1846-1927) mainly written on board the West Australian, which sailed from Edinburgh to Wellington in 1864. The diary begins with John leaving Edinburgh on the 12th March and finishes unexpectedly on the 2nd May 1864 (it did not arrive in port until July 1st). The diary also includes song lyrics at the beginning of the volume. The handwriting is wonderfully clear and the diary contains an interesting account of day to day life upon the ship.
- Mary Anne McCrystal: Brief diary written on board the Tintern Abbey en route from Gravesend to Christchurch, December 1874 - May 1875
- Mary Ann McCrystal (née Patterson) came to New Zealand from Ayr in Scotland, with her husband John Wilson McCrystal and their infant daughter Sarah Ann, who died on the voyage out. They came first to Christchurch, then to Ashburton, where three daughters were born to them. Sometime between 1881 and 1883 the family moved to Orange, NSW, where they remained.
